Korean OEM Suppliers: International Business Management Strategy - Essay Example

This study aims to identify the factors responsible for the success of the successful organization in the global market place with a special focus to the leadership and the strategies adopted in order to bring changes in the organization culture and structure. There are various sociological, technological, environmental, political legal and economical factors which influence the way any firm operates within any market place. The extent of variations in these factors, from one market to another, determines the strategic moves being planned by the company.

For being globally competitive a studied research of all these factors helps in establishing a sustainable business. Organizational structure, leadership and work-culture forms very much a part of the 'internal environmental factors' affecting the functioning of an organization. In the context of Korean companies, Kang (1996) states "Although the organizational structure is centralized and its functions formalized, individual jobs are not formally structured in Korean business firms. Korean firms usually do not have job descriptions or job specifications, and job tasks and work responsibilities of individual employees are largely determined by the supervisor as the jobs are performed.

" Organization structure and culture have important role in the success of any organization. Under an effective leadership how a company is able to cope up with the competitive global environment is always an area of interest for academicians and researchers. The influence of 'Country-of-origin effects' has been studied by various marketers and researchers on the consumer. For example, traditionally Quality has been associated with products coming from Japan and Germany. Similarly, consumers associate elegance and style with products originating from France and Italy.

This influence also determines the type of talent an organization can attract from the job market. It has been found to exist for products in general (Darling and Wood, 1990; Howard, 1989), for certain product categories (Cordell, 1992; Hong and Wyer, 1989, 1990; Roth and Romeo, 1992), and for specific brands (Chao, 1993; Han and Terpstra, 1988; Tse and Gorn, 1993; Witt, 1990). The impact of Country stereotypes on the purchasing behavior both of individual consumers has been one of the areas of studies (see e.g. Lin and Sternquist, 1994) and organizations (see e.g. Chang and Kim, 1995).

In general an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), may be defined as;The original manufacturer of a product/ equipment and then selling it under its own brand name. A company re-selling products (e.g. computer products, software etc.) under its own label that include technology licensed from another vendor. In this case the original product name may or may not be retained. Such OEM's are also called VAR (value-added reseller).A Company selling only fully assembled equipment.A company which markets a product made of components and subsystems manufactured by other companies under its own name and brand.

For the OEM products the business environment on the international scene has changed tremendously in respect of various parameters like quality, compatibility, prices, processes etc. Increasing competition thus makes the task of OEM companies from developing economies little difficult. Competition arises not just from the developed economies but